McDonald's challenges Chick-fil-A with new lemonade

McDonald's has already attempted to muscle into the chicken sandwich market with the very Chick-fil-A-esque McCrispy. Its spare pickle accompaniment and buttered bun leaves no doubt as to which fast food chain inspired its inception. Now the Golden Arches are again displaying the sincerest form of flattery toward America's favorite closed-on-Sundays restaurant, with a new beverage many Chick-fil-A customers find goes best with that famous chicken sandwich: lemonade. It's appearing in select markets across America right now, including New York City, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, and...Montgomery County, Maryland.

But this lemonade isn't what you might have expected, given McDonald's' Coca-Cola partnership. It would have been easy, cheap and predictable to simply promote Minute Maid Lemonade. After all, Minute Maid has one of the best store-bought lemonades on the market.

Pre-made bottled or frozen lemonades haven't been the tradition at Chick-fil-A, though, so McDonald's is again turning to a formula that has worked for its upstart competitor. Chick-fil-A lemonade is made with "three simple ingredients: real lemon juice, cane sugar and water," according to the company's website. The new McDonald's Lemonade is made with...real lemon juice, cane sugar and water. Chick-fil-A lemonade has bits of pulp in it, due to being squeezed from real lemons. McDonald's Lemonade also has bits of pulp in it.

Wow, what a coincidence!

It's safe to assume that if customer reaction is favorable enough, the new lemonade will be added to the menu nationwide. For now, check your local McDonald's in Montgomery County, and you can be one of the first in America to sample it. Even on Sundays.

New redevelopment proposal for Rockshire Village Center property in Rockville

A new chapter is opening in the complicated and contentious story of the Rockshire Village Center property in Rockville. The onetime neighborhood shopping center that was anchored by a Giant grocery store has been sitting vacant, as previous developer visions for the site have failed to align with the concerns of the Rockshire community. There is also a legal requirement for the current and future property owners to provide 29 spaces for users of the Rockshire pool and clubhouse. Developer EYA is now proposing a new plan to redevelop the site with a mix of single-family homes, townhomes, retail space, and a park.

The EYA plan would include 60 homes, 31 of which would be single-family homes, and the rest 3 or 4-story townhomes. 5000 square feet of retail would be built, including outdoor dining space for restaurants. The most recent redevelopment proposal that fell through had proposed 112 townhomes with no retail. Under EYA's new proposal, there would not be a full-size grocery store. Convenience stores, salons, full-service "sit-down" restaurants, fast-casual takeout restaurants, coffee shops, fitness boutiques like yoga studios, pet stores, banks, clinics, and dental offices are all among the possible retail space tenants the KLNB real estate firm has advised EYA are possible here.

EYA would provide 35 parking spaces for the Rockshire community pool and clubhouse, 6 more than legally required. 27 parking spaces would be provided in a small lot next to the retail center. And the main street running through the development from Wooton Parkway to Hurley Avenue would be made wide to allow for street parking on both sides. That would be in addition to the parking reserved for residents of the development.

The small park proposed would have somewhat of an amphitheater grading to it, as it slopes from the residential area above down to the retail center. Single-family homes would front directly onto Hurley Avenue, in an attempt to blend in with the existing SFHs in the Rockshire neighborhood. The stair access from the parking area to the Rockshire pool would be retained.

EYA hopes to receive approval of its Project Plan from the City of Rockville this October, and of the Level-2 Site Plan in Q2 of 2024. If that schedule holds, EYA plans to pull permits for the project in Q4 of 2024, and break ground in Q1 of 2025.

Renderings courtesy EYA

Montgomery County government offers self-defense courses for women as violent crime wave persists

Violent crimes such as armed carjackings, assaults, and robberies continue to plague Montgomery County, in all areas and at all hours. Montgomery County announced today that it will be offering low-cost self-defense courses for women this month and next, classes that will include "training on risk, crime awareness and prevention. Participants will be given a 13-piece student folio with information on how to reduce the risk of exposure to violence and how to escape violence. Participants also will learn some physical aspects of self-defense."

The courses will cost $12, and will be offered through the Montgomery County Commission for Women. You must pre-register to participate, and classes will have to fill up with at least 10 participants to be held. Teenage girls aged 13-17 are welcome to register, but must be accompanied by an adult, the County said in its announcement. Register online now and choose your location; the classes will be held at Montgomery County public libraries. All locations are in the East County or Germantown area.

The Commission for Women will not offer a course for men, but advises that such a course is available. Men are directed to call 240-777-8300 for information about that separate class.

Armed carjacking in Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of an armed carjacking in the King Farm area Saturday night. The carjacking was reported in the 1300 block of Piccard Drive at 9:20 PM on March 11, 2023. According to police, the victim was approached by a thin black male in his early teens, who was approximately 5'7" tall, and wearing a black hoodie. The suspect pointed a handgun at the victim, and demanded their car keys. After the victim complied, the suspect allegedly fled in the victim's blue 2017 Hyundai Sonata with MD tag number 2DB6897. 

Tara Thai closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Tara Thai has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Signage has been removed from the exterior of the restaurant. This ends a long run in Bethesda by the local Thai chain, which was at Bethesda Row until 2015, when it relocated to the mall. Tara Thai's Rio location in Gaithersburg has also closed. The only good news is that this opens up a fairly large restaurant space at the mall for a new tenant. Which restaurant chain would you like to see here?

Car stolen from dealership in Rockville

Rockville City police are investigating the theft of a vehicle from an automobile dealership on Rockville Pike yesterday afternoon, March 11, 2023. The vehicle was taken from a dealership in the 800 block of Rockville Pike. There are two dealerships on that block: Ourisman Mazda and Ourisman Chevrolet. As thefts from dealerships have persisted recently, a security vehicle has been seen patrolling the Chevy dealership lot at night.

Police respond to disorderly conduct at Rockville Town Square

Rockville City police were called to Rockville Town Square Thursday night to respond to an incident of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. Officers were called to the 100 block of Gibbs Street at 11:38 PM on Thursday, March 9, 2023. Some residents of the apartments upstairs at the development have complained on social media of the frequency of such incidents during the night and early morning on Gibbs Street.